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An American professor in Beijing explains the US government shutdown to Chinese students. Also, the effects the shutdown has on the nation's security and intelligence stories. Plus, growing demand for internet search engines that keep your queries private.

US military operations around the world - including the covert drone program - are continuing for now, untouched by the shutdown. But the nation's top intelligence official warns the crisis "seriously damages our ability to protect the safety and security of this nation."

Cities are centers of culture, but they're also increasingly home turf for militant warfare. That's what counter-insurgency guru David Kilcullen argues in his new book Out of the Mountains: The Coming of Age of the Urban Guerrilla.

Seems like no information is safe from the NSA these days. While it denies snooping into domestic social media accounts, you get the feeling that everything you do online could be monitored. Can it even be avoided? Check out Blippex.

Seems everyone in the world is making fun of the most powerful nation on Earth these days for not being able to keep its own government running. But Chinese netizens think the US is inspiring, because the people actually hold some power.

Samy Ben Redjeb is a former flight attendant in Frankfurt who spent years flying to African countries, collecting music. That collection forms the basis of his record label, Analog Africa. His latest compilation CD is "Afrobeat Airways 2."